In what is being seen as a major restructuring of its business, Uber has announced that Amit Jain, the head of its Asia Pacific business, will be leaving the company by the end of May. Amit played a key role in starting the Rides business in India, after which he went on to become the head of India operations.
In a statement from the company, Uber said that four years after joining, Amit will be leaving Uber at the end of May to spend time with his family before taking the next step in his career.
“Amit has been instrumental in growing our Rides business—first in India from launch to category leadership, and more recently across the Asia Pacific region. I’d like to thank him for his contribution and wish him every success in his future endeavours,” Barney Harford, Chief Operating Officer of Uber said in a statement.
Uber has appointed Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty to lead the company’s Asia-Pacific Rides business, in addition to his current role leading Uber’s Rides teams across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This hints towards the fact that Uber is integrating India business with Europe, shifting focus away from what it once termed one of its largest markets.
“I look forward to seeing Pierre work with our talented APAC teams to unlock opportunity markets such as Japan and South Korea and continue our strong momentum in markets such as India and Australia. Uber remains deeply committed to the Asia Pacific region and under Pierre’s leadership will continue to invest in our people, products and partnerships,” Barney added.
This major restructuring exercise comes at a time when Uber is set to launch the roadshow for its massive IPO, which will debut in the New York Stock Exchange in early May. Through the IPO, Uber is looking to raised $10 billion and is eyeing a valuation of anywhere between $90 billion-$100 billion.
According to the Economic Times, Amit told employees in an email that the APAC and EMEA mega regions have a lot in common in terms of business opportunities and challenges, and that it will pave the way for closer collaboration and best practice sharing.